Key moments

The stage was set for a remake of Sunday's final showdown between Nacer Bouhanni and John Degenkolb at the finish of the long second stage in St Georges-sur-Baulche, but victory went to a third man, Moreno Hofland, who stole the show for his greatest victory to date.

"I had a slight fear thinking back on my crash last year with the yell jersey on. But it was a nice day and everything went right. In the first 100 kilometers, I felt pain in my knee but then it went off as the ride went on. In the end I was not thinking about it anymore. In any case, it was not a problem from my sprint. I was only a little short on strength in the last 200 metros to be able to battle it out with Degenkolb and Hofland. Maybe I should have moved a little earlier to be in...

Nacer Bouhanni's record in Paris-Nice is such a mixture of joy and pain that he will be keen to break the jinx which saw him out of the race a year ago after only a day in the yellow jersey. The FDJ sprinter crashed and broke teeth in the previous edition and he will undoubtedly be closely watched and looked after by his team-mates in today's long 205-kms ride from Rambouillet to St Georges-sur-Baulche near Auxerre in Burgundy. Hopefully, his ailing knee will have fully recovered when and if...

... an Delaplace and Saramotins now lead the peloton by three minutes.

15:22

Giant Shimano also in the chase

Less than 25 kilometres to go and John Degenkolb's Giant Shimano team-mates are now joining forces with FDJ.fr and Omega Pharma Quick Step at the front of the bunch.

15:14

Andy Schleck dropped

Luxembourg's Andy Schleck (TFR), who already lost nearly two minutes in the first stage, has now been dropped by the peloton.

15:13

30 kms to go...

... and the lead of Delaplace and Saramotins is trimmed down to 4:00.

15:09

Peloton raises tempo

Omega Pharma Quick Step are increasing the pace at the front of the peloton and the pack is stretched along the road as the gap goes down to 4:15.

15:01

Laborie increases polka-dot lead

Third at the top of the only climb of the day, Christophe Laborie increased his lead in the mountain classification and will keep his polka-dot jersey for one more day at least. Tomorrow's third stage only includes one third category climb.

Aleksejs Saramotins (IAM) is first at the top of the only climb of the day, Cote de la Ferte Loupiere (3rd cat) ahead of Anthony Dalaplace.

14:26

A land of sprinters

St Georges-sur-Baulche is a suburb of Auxerre, which hosted seven Paris-Nice stages in the past crowning some of the sport's greatest finishers in Freddy Maertens (1977) and Jan Raas (1980), who both won with the rainbow jersey on their back.

14:16

Ideal temperature

It is just under 20 degrees C on the race. An ideal temperature for a bike race.

14:15

Gap going down

Km 127 - The peloton raised the tempo and the gap behind escapees Anthony Delaplace (BSE) and Aleksejs Saramotins (IAM) is down to 5:55.

14:01

Average speed

The average speed in the third hour of the stage was 38.9 kph for an overall speed of 40.8 kph.

IAM team director Eddy Seigneur admitted Aleksejs Saramotins and his breakaway companion Anthony Delaplace seldom had a chance to go all the way."We had hoped for a break at five or six men. With only two of them, this is a lost cause," he told www.letour.fr."Now were in it, so we show ourselves. Everything's alright, they take turns well. But our real goal is further down the race with the GC and Sylvain Chavanel."

13:30

Gap unchanged

Km 96 - The lead of the two escapees, Delaplace (BSE) and Saramotins (IAM) has remained unchanged for the past 20 kms at 7:40.

13:18

Happy birthday Luke Rowe

Happy birthday to Luke Rowe (SKY), who is celebrating his 24th birthday on the road between Rambouillet and St Georges-sur-Saulche.

13:08

Tail wind

The peloton is pushed by a solid tail wind, which can account for the reasonably high speed so far.

13:01

Average speed

The average speed in the second hours of the stage was 39.6 kph. The overall average speed since the start was 41.3 kph.

12:56

Gap keeps going down

Km 73 - The gap between Delaplace (BSE), Saramotins (IAM) and the peloton dropped to 8:20.

12:48

Stable gap

Km 68 - The gap between Delpalace, Saramotins and the peloton remains stable at 9:05.

12:39

Meersman level with Bouhanni

Thanks to the one-second bonus bagged in the intermediate sprint, Belgium's Gianni Meersman (OPQ) is now level on time with Nacer Bouhanni (FDJ) in the GC.

Aleksejs Saramotins (IAM) is back with Anthony Delaplace (BSE) in the front after his puncture.

12:34

Saramotins punctures

Latvia's Aleksejs Saramotins (IAM) just punctured in the break.

12:27

Emmanuel Hubert (BSE) - To keep the bunch at bay

Bretagne Seche team director Emmanuel Hubert told www.letour.fr the escapees were trying to hold a steady tempo to keep the peloton at bay without speeding too much: "The aim is to maintain a steady pace but not go too fast or the sprinters teams will get angry. If they keep chasing at the pace they are now, it won't go far. The idea is never to show the jersey, when you have someone in the break, you want it to go all the way. But it's not ideal with only two riders. We'll see how it goes,"...

12:11

Delaplace profile

Anthony Delaplace, 24, was French junior champion in 2007. He won a stage on the Tour de l'Avenir in 2010 and Polynormande in 2011.

12:08

Gap goes down

Km 40 - The lead of Delaplace (BSE) and Saramotins (IAM) goes down a bit: 10:30.

12:04

Lionel Marie (GIA): John was forced to brake

Giant Shimano team director Lionel Marie told ww.letour.fr that Germany's John Degenkolb, second in yesterday's first stage, had been forced to brake in the finale, eventually losing to France's Nacer Bouhanni. "The preparation of the sprint went alright but in the last 300 metres, there was a little elbowing between Bouhanni and Degenkolb, who was forced to brake and lost a little bit of speed. From then it was impossible for him to make up for lost ground. He was a little...

The peloton is nearing Etampes (Km 33.5), start of the last stage of the 2008 Tour de France. That stage was won by Belgium's Gert Steegmans and Carlos Sastre was crowned on the Champs-Elysees. Tony Gallopin made his cycling debut with the local club, VC Etampes.

11:46

In the press today

In l'Equipe, AG2R team director Vincent Lavenu explained that he rode Romain Bardet's second bike himself to speed the process when the Frenchman found himself blocked by a crash in yesterday's stage. "As soon as I head that Romain had stopped, I got out of the car and rode his second bike to hand it over to him as quickly as possible. Otherwise he would have lost more than two minutes," he told l'Equipe.Bardet finally lost 1:09 on the line.

11:45

Saramotins profile

At 31, Aleksejs Saramotins is a solid, experienced rider who won the Latvian national title six times and is his country's current champion. Among his other victories, the GP d'Isbergues in 2010 and the Tour du Doubs last season.

11:41

FDJ lead the chase

Nacer Bouhanni's FDJ team-mates have seized the reins of the peloton, who is now 10:40 behind the two escapees, Dalaplace and Saramotins.

11:36

Gap up to 9:15

Km 19 - Delaplace (BSE) and Saramotins (IAM) now lead the pack by 9:15.

11:35

Quotes at the start

While the first stage trapped a few of the pre-race favorites after a series of crashes, riders at the start in Rambouillet reassessed their positions before a long 205-kms stage to St Georges-sur-Baulche. Thomas Voeckler was one of the riders halted by a pile-up and the Europcar team leader said he would work for a stage victory by the French outfit's best sprinter: "We'll do our best so that it's Bryan Coquard's turn to win," he said.AG2R's Romain Bardet, also involved in the main...

11:22

Latest gap

Km 11 - Gap increases and Delaplace (BSE) and Saramotins (IAM) now lead the main pack by 5:40.

11:20

Pineau at home

While Team FDJ.fr will reach St Georges-sur-Baulche with the yellow jersey on the back of Nacer Bouhanni, it will also be a special finish for his team-mate Cedric Pineau, who lives in this suburb of Auxerre.

11:17

Gap increases

Km 10 - Delaplace (BSE) and Saramotins (IAM) now lead the peloton by 4:35.

Twenty seven riders were warned at the start for failing to come to the podium in Rambouillet to sign the start list, race director Thierry Gouvenou said. He added that a second offence would lead to their exclusion.

10:50

Bricaud - Nacer's ambition is to raise his arms again

FDJ.fr's team director Thierry Bricaud made it clear that Nacer Bouhanni's ambition today was to raise his arms in victory again on the finish line. "Of course his knee is bruised like is the case after a big crash. It will probably be stiff during the first hour and then it should be alright. The ambition remains the same – to raise the arms on the finish line. The legs will decide, or rather the knee will, but the morale is high," he told www.letour.fr

10:49

Jersey holders

Thanks to his victory in the 1st stage around Mantes-la-Jolie, France's Nacer Bouhanni holds the yellow, green and white jerseys. The only one eluding him is the polka-dot garment, on the back of fellow-Frenchman Christophe Laborie thanks to his long solo in Sunday's stage. Still Bouhanni's lead hangs by a thread as Gianni Meersman lies only one second behind him overall and showed great form and presence in yesterday's intermediate sprints. Germany's John Degenkolb is third, four...

10:44

Climb of the day

Km 160.5 - Cote de la Ferte Loupiere (3rd cat)

10:43

Sprints of the day

Km 61.5 - MalesherbesKm 186.5 - St Georges-sur-Baulche

10:34

Welcome on the second stage

Welcome to the 205-kms second stage of Paris-Nice between Rambouillet and St Georges-de-Baulche. Stay tuned to www.letour. fr